SWEDEN: Infrastructure manager Trafikverket has launched public consultations on route options for the Hässleholm – Lund section of its proposed Stockholm – Malmö high speed line.
The 70 km double-track line through Skåne is intended to form the southernmost part of a long-planned Y-shaped high speed network connecting Stockholm, Göteborg and Malmö. It is the third section to be taken forward, following the Ostlänken between Järna and Linköping and the Göteborg – Borås route. The infrastructure manager says the alignment is being designed for high speed services to operate at up to 320 km/h, while regional trains would run at 250 km/h.
The Hässleholm – Lund section is being prioritised to relieve the existing Stockholm – Malmö main line, known as the Södra Stambanan, and free up capacity on the network for more freight traffic. The new line would start from the important junction at Hässleholm and run southwest to Lund, which lies just north of the Malmö conurbation.
Detailed objectives for the project were agreed last year, following the first two of four rounds of consultation. In the third round, Trafikverket is seeking feedback from local residents and other stakeholders on six potential route options.
Two would link the existing stations at Hässleholm C and Lund C, while two would start from Finja to the west of Hässleholm and run to Lund C. There are also two options that would skirt around the western side of Lund to join the existing line near Pilsåker. All of the alignments would bypass the towns of Eslöv and Höör, which have stations on the current line.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the consultation is being carried out digitally, using an interactive map. Feedback will be consolidated into a project report for the fourth round of consultation while work continues on further development of the preferred options. Construction of the new line is expected to start around 2027-29.
